The passage that I chose from The Declaration of Independence is as follows: "That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." The passage that I chose from Thomas Paine is as follows: "Man has no property in man; neither has any generation a property in the generations to follow." (Paine, Rights of Man-Part One, 1791)
I chose both of ese passages because they are both similar in my opinion. The Declaration is stating that the governments that will protect man's rights are within man itself. In other words, it is stating that without a Man, there is no government. Man has the ultimate power when it comes to governing because other men give them that so called power.
Paine's passage is stating that although the government is run by men, at no man has the right to tell anoer what he may and may not do. I honestly believe that Thomas Paine was directly referring to this passage in the Declaration.
Paine mentions "Every age and generation must be as free to act for itself, in all cases, as the ages and generation which preceded it"
I interpret the Declaration passage as stating that the government and he men that sit in it should follow in their forefathers footsteps and allow the government standards to remain the same, never change and continue as it has been. Paine's reading says e opposite, in my opinion. I feel as though he is stating that although we should allow the government to rule, we should also allow for growth and change with the generation that it is present in.
Both of ese passages relate to the class because in me we learn how the political system worked before our generation. Many things have changed that would not have been allowed in the generations preceding ours solely because of the government's ability to adapt to the needs and wants of the people who are voting.
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